


Frozen Heart

by MatchstickQ



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Mentions Of Bodily Harm, More characters but I’m too lazy to list them, Multi, OC is nonbinary, Oc is a fucking troll, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Slow Burn, Theres also a lot of spirit shenanigans going on, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, because, ill add more tags as I go, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25073956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatchstickQ/pseuds/MatchstickQ
Summary: I promised myself I’d never feel anything when my mother died. I’d solidified my promise when my father left. I felt nothing now, and it was better that way.At least that’s what I told myself at night.
Relationships: Katara/Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), The Gaang & Original Character(s), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko, Zuko (Avatar)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Frozen Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so, this is my first fic, and obviously I’m not a seasoned writer, but after a lot of pressure from my friend, I eventually decided to shove this idea out. Good luck, I’m sorry if this sucks!

11 moons, two weeks, one day.

That’s how long it’s been since they left me, since they all left me.

I shouldn’t be surprised, of course. First it was my mother, then my father, followed by my friends, and finally my sister and brother. My own siblings. The only people I thought I could rely on.

Then again, Katie always was such a weak bender, it was no shock that she couldn’t save me. No, instead she had kept that privilege for my twin. Then they had left me, just like everyone else.

Perhaps it was, in fact, better to feel. I wouldn’t know. I haven’t felt anything since mother’s death. The ice was always much more preferable than the waves. Better to float than drown, you see.

Now, of course, I was indeed floating, but inside a ship of fire-made steel. My captor hadn’t once graced me with his presence, but I waited patiently for his visit, he would make an excellent bargaining chip once I caught him. The disgraced fire prince himself… I could get anywhere with him.

As luck, or perhaps the Spirits, would have it, a guard came by at that moment for my feeding time. It was a bit dehumanizing, I’ll say, to be fed like an animal and caged like one, but who’s to say I’m human?  
I acted on impulse, almost like my twin, wretched warrior that he is, and knocked out the guard by freezing the ocean air in their lungs. After that, I siphoned seawater from the Outside in through the tiny window, just like I’d practiced, to grab the cell key from its former owner. Keeping my hands raised and elbows bent, I forced the water to obey my command as it slid the key into the lock.

A slightly more frozen part of me said that if I revealed my bending now, I could be captured again, and left in a room much worse than the last. I never was a particularly good listener.

I sighed disdainfully at the still-alive guard, but bent down and took their coat anyways. My nose wrinkled slightly, red was never my color, but my outside would no me no good if it was as frozen as my inside. 

Now in the new, terrible coat, I made my way up the steel stairs. Steel was decent, I’ll admit, but fire steel made my chi feel wrong, like it was trying to force rage and pain into me. I laughed at the thought. That would never work, no emotions would ever reach me for as long as I breathed. I’d promised myself that after father left.

When I did finally reach the deck (why were fire nation stairs so long?) I saw a boy blasting fire at some guards, evidently locked in some form of duel or practice. That would be the fire prince then, judging by his awful ponytail.

I watched from a corner, hood hiding my telltale water tribe features. It would be best to observe how the prince fought, seeing as at some point I would need to incapacitate him. 

Eventually, though, my fun was over, as someone evidently discovered my empty cell and began shouting. The prince turned, revealing a large burn on the left side of his face. Turns out that ashmakers aren’t fireproof. 

The boy, who couldn’t have been but a year older than me, sent, no, ordered the guards to go below decks and check on the ruckus. It was odd to me how someone so young could order others around, prince or not. I suppose the half-burnt glare of golden eyes and raspy yelling would scare anyone into submission. Minus me, of course. 

Eventually, he turned to look at me, showing that he was more perceptive than I’d assumed. A part of me said that I shouldn’t fight him on his own turf, but like I said, listening isn’t my strong suit. That voice was always wrong, anyways.

I stepped forwards and took in my surroundings as fast as I could, analyzing where the stairs were and the places that tilted when the waves hit. The guards were gone, but it wasn’t like they were hard to beat. The only other person on the deck besides the prince was an older man seated in front of him, but he was engrossed in a pai sho game with himself. That alone made me wary of him, because while he may have been old, it was evident that his mind was in working order, and that he was most likely an adept strategist.

The prince took a defensive position as I squared my shoulders and lowered my hood, revealing my tanned face and near-purple eyes. I brought water up from the waves below, bending it into icy orbs floating above my hand. 

“Who are you?” He asked, eyes narrowing.

I shook my head. 

“Wrong question, Fire boy.”

The old man hummed in interest as I circled the prince.

“You two are fascinating,” he said, voice low and wise, “It has been a long time since I’ve seen a water bender fight properly.”

I smirked and said nothing as I continued the almost dance-like steps around the prince, both of us daring the other to make a move.

The ashmaker gave in first, and yelled aggressively as he blasted a fireball at me. I grinned and sidestepped before whipping at his feet with the cold water. His eyes narrowed as he slashed lines of flame at my chest, which were quickly doused by seawater or blocked by icy shields. 

We continued like that, trapped in a dance where he melted through my ice, and in return I blocked all of his attacks. He would periodically yell at the old man, who was apparently his uncle, but all he got in return was a proverb or a loud sip of tea. 

Eventually, the price got sloppy, and was panting from the continual effort. I, on the other hand, could tell that my body was tiring, but I just blocked out any pain or weakness. My ice wouldn’t crack, and nor would my defenses. Ever.

At some point however, it became clear that this battle would have no winner. Even after trying to slick the steel under his feet, the prince somehow wouldn’t give up. With that realization, I stopped all my offensives, instead just blocking the onslaught of flame, until the prince finally, finally gave in and sat down, hands still raised in defense. 

“It would seem that we are at a stalemate,” I said, floating ice marbles through my fingers, before idly freezing a guard who tried to grab me from behind.

The prince waved off the guards and glared at any who still stepped forwards.

“I’ll ask what I asked earlier, who are you, and what do you want?” 

I grinned and pulled myself into the most regal position I could muster, seeing as my hair was a terrible mess and that my clothes were in disarray.

“My name is Kyoei of the Southern Water Tribe, now-former prisoner of the Fire Nation,” I announced, before turning my eyes to stare directly into the prince’s own, “ and as for what I want, well, that would be you, princeling, but seeing as we’re evenly matched, I’ll have to think of something else at a later time.”

“Southern, eh? I thought the Fire Nation had taken all of the waterbenders from there,” the old man put down another tile as he spoke.

“Obviously they missed some Uncle! Just like they missed some Airbenders, otherwise the Avatar wouldn’t be a child!”

My eyebrow raised at that.

“The Avatar has returned, huh? Is that why this ship has been sailing over open ocean for three moons?”

The prince glowered at me, but his uncle placed a hand on his shoulder in an almost gentle gesture.

“Prince Zuko, this boy-,” he began.

“Person, actually,” I interrupted.

“This person has done nothing but get out of a cell and duel you. You should consider the fact that they could not beat you, and that in return you could not beat them. Meditate on this, and meanwhile give them a proper room.”

I smirked at this, and kicked my legs out, propping myself up on my hands. If all went well, the prince would be mine in no time.

“Fine, Uncle. I’ll give them a room for now. The North Pole will know what to do with them.”

I grinned internally as the fire prince stood up and led me to my room. 

‘Oh my,’ I thought, ‘these next few days will be delightfully interesting…’


End file.
